Archive for the ‘Yearbook’ Category

1941: Rolfe, Iowa, School Yearbook

May 7, 2013

To look on this blog for Rolfe, Iowa, school yearbooks by decade, you may go to this blog’s home page. Once there, in the column at the right, click on one of the yearbook decade links (e.g., “1940s”). With time, I’ll get more yearbooks posted.

I started this blog primarily to promote prints of my mom’s (Marion Gunderson) watercolors. Because the Rolfe Public Library benefits from the sales of prints, I’m  not bashful about combining her art with the yearbooks. Typically I’ve posted Rolfe school yearbooks along with watercolors painted by Mother in the corresponding year. However, I’m not aware of any specific watercolors painted by her in 1941. That was the year she graduated with an Applied Art major from Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). It’s also the year she married my dad.

Interestingly, by looking at the upper right corner of this 1941 yearbook’s title page, I assume this yearbook (below) belonged to Don Sinek.

The thumbnail images below are all the pages from the Rolfe Community School District (or whatever it was called then) 1940-41 yearbook. Some pages are a little discolored.

If anyone has a Rolfe-related photo to be included in this post, I’d love for you to send it my way. It could be of any person or any location having to do with Rolfe and associated with this 1940-41 year. Photos from other years are very welcome, too. My email address is mariongundersonart@gmail.com .

Making the Thumbnail Images Larger

To see the thumbnail images in enlarged and slideshow view, click on one of the images. Then navigate forward or backward through the images.

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For my own reference: Desaturate the following. 2,3,4,9,10. Plus these just barely: 12,13,18,1,20 and 23, 25.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

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1968: Marion Gunderson’s Watercolors and Rolfe, Iowa, School Yearbook

August 9, 2012

This page is from the May 23, 1968, issue of the Rolfe Arrow archives at http://rolfe.advantage-preservation.com.* (Click on image twice to magnify.)

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At the end of this post are directions for locating the newspaper article telling about the Rolfe girls’ state meet win.**

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In the gallery below is the Rolfe, Iowa, school yearbook for 1967-68 … my 7th-grade year.

For other Rolfe yearbooks, go to this blog’s home page. At that page, on the right of the screen is a column of “Categories.” In the main category of “Iowa” there is a subcategory of “Rolfe” in which there is a subcategory of “Yearbook.” That sub-category of “Yearbook” is further divided into decades, so far including “1940s,” “1950s” and “1960s.” My hope is to post all of the Rolfe yearbooks by Rolfe’s July 12-14, 2013, sesquicentennial. During the sesquicentennial the Rolfe all-school reunion will also take place.

In the gallery of thumbnail images in this post are images of three watercolors painted by Mother (Marion Gunderson) in 1968. As far as I know, unlike many other years, Mother did not journal in 1968. Therefore, I don’t have any journal entries documenting anything regarding these three paintings.

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Making the Thumbnail Images Larger

1) To see the thumbnail images in slideshow view, click on one of the images. Then navigate forward or backward through the images.

2) To magnify the images even more, once in slideshow view, click on the “Permalink” OR “View Full Size” hyperlink.

3) After clicking on the “Permalink”  OR “View Full Size” hyperlink, if you want to enlarge further, hover your mouse cursor over the image. As you move the cursor over the image, if you see a moving “+” sign, it means you can enlarge the image even further by clicking on it. (A “-” sign means you can’t enlarge it further.)

 

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*101 years (1888-1989) of Rolfe newspapers are online at www.rolfe.advantage-preservation.com. The Rolfe Public Library endorsed this newspaper project; I’ve acted as liaison between the library and Advantage Companies that did the digitizing and is hosting the files. If you notice something that needs to be changed, you may report it by either contacting the company directly, or you may let me know and I can relay it to my contact there.

It is important to note that there *will* be a “Help” link at the link for the newspaper archives. It just might take a little time. In the meantime, if you have questions related to searching, feel free to let me know.

**To locate the article about the Rolfe girls’ state meet win, follow these directions for searching by date: 1) go to the newspaper site, 2) under “Year” click on “show more,” 3) click on “1968,” 4) under “Month” click “May,” 5) under “Day” click on “23,” 6) click on the “hit” that ends with “Page 1.” When there you have the option to arrow forward and backward through that issue’s pages, including the page/image shown at the top of this blog post.

You may also conduct keyword searches.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in 1960s, Rolfe, Yearbook | Leave a Comment »

1956: Marion Gunderson’s Watercolors and Rolfe, Iowa, School Yearbook

June 22, 2012

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This photo was taken on my* first birthday, which was in 1956. We are in the basement of the new house that we started moving into on Jan. 23, 1956. Clockwise, starting at the left, is oldest-sister Clara, Mother, Peggy (partially obscured, sitting on the couch), Charles (helping to open my gift), me (partially obscured), Helen (in dark clothing), and Marti (back to camera). I assume my dad took this photo. With us six children under foot, I wonder how Mother EVER had time to paint! I imagine my dad being supportive was a very important factor. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

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In the gallery of thumbnail images in this post are images of nine watercolors by Mother (Marion Gunderson). Eight were definitely painted in 1956; I believe the ninth (Holy Family**) was, as well. In Mother’s 1956 journal***, there are twelve or thirteen dates for which she has entries indicating she painted on those dates.

Also in the gallery below are images of the 1956 yearbook of the Rolfe, Iowa, school district. Links to other Rolfe yearbooks are in the “Categories” column at this blog’s homepage. More yearbooks will be added periodically.

If you are wondering why it is a big deal to me to include Mother’s watercolors, a lot of it has to do with profits from prints of the watercolors being donated to the Rolfe Public Library. So far over $4,000 has been donated, much of it going to this project. If you have questions about the prints, you may contact me at mariongundersonart@gmail.com. You may also ask at the library or at Wild Faces Gallery (where the prints are made) in Rolfe. (BTW, for the library and for purchasers, everyone comes out better financially if prints are purchased in person — when possible — as opposed to online.)

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Making the Thumbnail Images Larger

1) To see the thumbnail images in slideshow view, click on one of the images. Then navigate forward or backward through the images.

2) To magnify the images even more, once in slideshow view, click on the “Permalink” or “View Full Size” hyperlink.

3) After clicking on the “Permalink”  or “View Full Size” hyperlink, if you want to enlarge further, hover your mouse cursor over the image. As you move the cursor over the image, if you see a moving “+” sign, it means you can enlarge the image even further by clicking on it. (A “-” sign means you can’t enlarge it further.)

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*Louise Gunderson Shimon  (youngest daughter of Marion)

**Holy Family — see December 1 entry toward the bottom of this post.

****Prints are available.

*** Entries from Mother’s 1956 journal include:

Jan. 2: 1st meal in basement [of new house]

Jan 16: Louise started on Pablum.

Jan. 23: Started moving to new house.

Jan. 30: Clara’s first high heels — for school concert and then 8th grade graduation. Art Ass’n meeting at Lena Vaughn’s in afternoon.

Feb. 6: Johnson Bros. of Ruthven started moving old house.

Feb. 9: Rolfe band had thrill of a concert with Rafael Mendez, trumpeter. Clara wore formal for the first time.

Feb. 20: Deane sold 25 cattle.

Feb. 22: Deane to Sioux City with 19 cattle brought 19¢ a lb.

Mar. 1: Johnny Zeman started working for us.

Mar. 5: Painted with Art Ass’n at Maud Herrick’s. [Does anyone know how I might contact Maud — if still living — or Maud’s family? I believe Mother gave or sold a painting to Maud. If so, I’d like to try to track down an image of it.]

Mar. 6: Painted horse picture.

Mar. 20: Dial telephones installed.

Mar. 25: Louise baptized. She behaved perfectly.

Mar. 30: Oat seeding started.

May 18: Deane to W’loo [Waterloo] to get 70D J.D. tractor that he is to run on experimental basis.

June 18: I painted with art ass’n at Lena Vaughn’s. [In this link’s photo, Lena is “Lena Wiegman.”]

July 10:  Oat combining started.

July 23: I painted Lenox bird picture this afternoon.

July 30: Painted with Art Ass’n at Agnes Neal’s.

Sept. 12: I painted picture of a Bull.

Sept. 24: John Young [2011 photo] took over Bill Brinkman’s Standard Service Station.

Sept. 27: Art Ass’n met here.

Sept. 21: I painted zinnia picture.

Oct. 18: Painted Sculptured Head with ass’n at Myrtle Sabo’s.

October 29: Painted with Art Ass’n at Bertha Van Alstine’s barn in Gilmore — did corn picture.

Nov. 10 and 11: John Deere pheasant hunters here and Evelyn Jirsa [wife of Emil Jirsa]. Poorest hunting yet.

Nov. 19: Sorosis [women’s book review/social club] at Lucerne’s [Hunter, I assume]. Marie  [Hauck?] reviewed Virgil Hancher’s travel diary. [Virgil Hancher graduated in Rolfe’s class of 1914. Before July 2013 I’ll post the 1913 Rolfe yearbook which includes several photos of Virgil.]

Nov. 21: Report cards. _____ had F in deportment. [May or may not be a family member.]

**Dec. 1: Busy — worked on Christmas picture for living room. [I believe this is the Holy Family painting, where Mother also used a cutwork technique. I have one of her paintings of a young woman where she used a similar dark wash and the same cutwork technique to create the outlines. My painting is dated 1958.)

Dec. 10: Painted with Art. Ass’n at F. Beneke’s.

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Photo collection sources may be furnished upon request.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in 1950s, Iowa, Marion Gunderson, Rolfe, Yearbook | 4 Comments »

1954: Marion Gunderson’s Watercolors and Rolfe, Iowa, School Yearbook

May 13, 2012

In the gallery of thumbnail images in this post are images of 12 watercolors painted in 1954 by Mother (Marion Gunderson). In Mother’s 1954 journal, there are 23 dates for which she has entries indicating she painted on those dates.

Also in the gallery below are images of the 1954 yearbook of the Rolfe, Iowa, school district. Links to other Rolfe yearbooks are in the “Categories” column at this blog’s homepage. More yearbooks will be added periodically.

If you have photos and/or video that relate to Rolfe’s history (in general, or Main Street, agriculture, rural life, the schools, including D.M.T., etc.), and you’d like me to share them at this blog, feel free to contact me. My email address is mariongundersonart@gmail.com. Even snapshots like this photo below!

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SUMMER 1954 — SLUMBER PARTY TIME! L to R: Judy Wagner (Larson), Pam Jordan (Wolfe), Rachel Heald (Perry) and Clara Gunderson (Hoover). This photo was taken about a year before I (Louise) was born, and about two years before my family moved into a new house at almost the same exact location. The car is a 1953 Oldsmobile. These girls are included in the sixth-grade class photos on pages 18 and 19 of the 1954 Rolfe yearbook (below).  (Click on image to enlarge.)

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Making the Thumbnail Images Larger

1) To see the thumbnail images in slideshow view, click on one of the images. Then navigate forward or backward through the images.

2) To magnify the images even more, once in slideshow view, click on the “Permalink” button.

3) After clicking on the “Permalink” button, if you want to enlarge further, hover your mouse cursor over the image. As you move the cursor over the image, if you see a moving “+” sign, it means you can enlarge the image even further by clicking on it. (A “-” sign means you can’t enlarge it further.)

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*An asterisk after any watercolor title indicates that prints are available of that particular watercolor. The profits from the prints go to the Rolfe Public Library where Mother worked for 35 years.

To learn more about availability of prints, you may contact me (Louise Shimon) at mariongundersonart@gmail.com.  You may also look and order online at www.mariongundersonart.ecrater.com. However, the library and you would benefit more dollar-wise if you ordered directly through me or purchased via the Rolfe Public Library or Wild Faces Gallery in Rolfe. The largest selection/inventory is available through me.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in 1950s, Iowa, Marion Gunderson, Rolfe | 1 Comment »

1951: Marion Gunderson’s Watercolors and Rolfe, Iowa, School Yearbook

January 26, 2012

This post includes the 1951 Rolfe, Iowa, school yearbook. It also includes images of four watercolors painted in 1951 by Mother (Marion Gunderson). Lastly, it includes a 1952 photo of my five siblings. Hanging on the wall in the photo’s background is one of Mother’s 1951 watercolors.

If you don’t care about the watercolors or family photo and just want to see the yearbook, scroll down quite far and you’ll see the yearbook images. Clara is on the third-grade page. On the last five pages of the yearbook, notice the names of the sponsoring businesses. Out of those 52 businesses, I believe only one or two still exist under the same name. Also, I didn’t know that the  McIntire Funeral Home was also an ambulance service!

If you do care about the watercolors, information about availability of prints is available at the end of this post.*

Click here for one or more 1940s Rolfe school yearbook(s).

Click here for one or more 1960s Rolfe school yearbook(s).

To enlarge any image, click on it once (or twice to enlarge it even more).

UPDATE: I just realized that the yearbook images cannot be enlarged as much as in previous postings. (By clicking on the yearbook images, they can be enlarged to several inches wide by several inches high. But they can’t be enlarged as much as previously possible.)  I’m checking to see if I’ve set something wrong or if there are limitations.

UPDATE #2: I just found out that there’s nothing I can do about my concern expressed in the Update immediately above. If you want to see any of the images larger on your monitor, let me know and maybe I could email a few to  you or add them one-at-a-time to another post or some other work-around. mariongundersonart@gmail.com

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What does this photo have to do with the year 1951? The main thing is that hanging on the wall is the "Railway Station and Grain Elevator" watercolor (shown immediately below) of Gilmore City, Iowa, painted in 1951 by Mother (Marion Gunderson). I assume the photo was actually taken in 1952, since the baby in the photo is my sister Peggy; she was born in late 1951, the same year Mother painted the Gilmore City watercolor. L to R: My siblings Clara, Charles, Helen, Peggy and Marti. I was not yet born. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

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"Railway Station and Grain Elevator" at Gilmore City, Iowa, watercolor painted in 1951 by Marion A. Gunderson. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

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"Depot" Rolfe, Iowa, watercolor painted in 1951 by Marion A. Gunderson. (Click photo to enlarge.)

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"Baby's Shoes" watercolor painted in 1951 by Marion A. Gunderson. (Prints are not available but possibly could be if there is interest.)

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"ISU Heating Plant" Ames, Iowa, watercolor painted in 1951 by Marion A. Gunderson. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

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1951 Rolfe, Iowa, School Yearbook

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*A partial inventory of prints of 30 of Mother’s watercolors is available at the Rolfe Public Library and Wild Faces Gallery, both in Rolfe, Iowa. Prints may also be purchased online as well as directly from me (Louise). mariongundersonart@gmail.com

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in 1950s, Marion Gunderson, Rolfe, Yearbook | 2 Comments »

1949: Marion Gunderson’s Watercolors and Rolfe, Iowa, School Yearbook

July 26, 2011

This is the first in a series of posts in which I will include from the same year:

  • images of watercolors painted by Mother (Marion A. Gunderson), and
  • the Rolfe, Iowa, school yearbook. (Scroll down quite a ways to get to the yearbook.)

To look for Rolfe yearbooks by decade, you may go to this blog’s home page and, in the column at the right, click on one of the yearbook decade links (e.g., “1940s”). So far there are only two yearbooks posted at this blog, the other one being 1966-67.

I don’t know how soon I’ll post another watercolor/yearbook combination. By the time of Rolfe’s 2013 sesquicentennial, I hope to post every Rolfe school yearbook to which I have access, at least through the ’70s. Time to scan and public interest will be telling factors.

If you know of any Rolfe school yearbook(s) looking for a home, please check with Penny at the Rolfe Public Library to see if any are needed/wanted (712-848-3143). Or check with me to see if I need any for scanning and returning … or keeping if a return is not desired (mariongundersonart@gmail.com).

On a similar note, if you or someone you know has a watercolor painted by Mother, if you’d make me aware of it, I’d appreciate it. I might ask for a snapshot, or maybe even to make prints. I never ask to keep a painting, although twice that has been offered, for which many of my family members are thrilled.

It’s no secret that I have a passion for promoting prints of Mother’s watercolors, with the profits going to the Rolfe Public Library. I also am passionate about promoting Rolfe, in general.

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The Year of Watercolors: 1949

The Rolfe School Yearbook (scroll down): 1948-1949

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You may read about Clara’s, my oldest sister, discovery of Mother’s 1949 Ear of Iowa Corn (below) in three posts: Part I, and Part II, and Part III.

Ear of Iowa Corn, watercolor by Marion Gunderson, 1949. Prints are available.

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Next is my dad’s (Deane Gunderson) bowling ball, bag and one of his shoes. He bowled in a league in Waterloo, Iowa, in the early 1940s. He continued to bowl when he and Mother moved back to the farm in 1945. While we’ve always had this 1949 Bowling watercolor, because it had been tucked away for a while, it now seems nostalgically fresh.

Bowling, watercolor by Marion Gunderson, 1949. Prints are available.

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You can read about the following two grain elevator 1949 watercolors (of the same Pocahontas, Iowa, grain elevator) here.

Grain Elevator II (Pocahontas, Iowa), watercolor by Marion Gunderson, 1949. Prints are available.

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Grain Elevator I (Pocahontas, Iowa) watercolor by Marion Gunderson, 1949. Prints are available.

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The next two images are also of watercolors Mother painted in 1949. Clicking on them will enlarge the images, as is the case for any image in this post. I think these two watercolors, especially that of the rag doll, are not typical of Mother’s style of painting.

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1949 Rolfe School Yearbook

The images (below) from the 1948-49 Rolfe school The Red and Gold yearbook are a little fuzzy. The pages are a little textured, not of glossy paper like current-day yearbooks. Still, they provide a yester-year trip back to Rolfe. Remember — clicking on the images enlarges them. Have fun!

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in 1940s, Marion Gunderson, Rolfe, Yearbook | Leave a Comment »

Sixth-Grader Eyes Future Husband (Plus Rolfe High School RAM 1967 Yearbook)

May 23, 2011

The Year: 1967

The Moment: The first time I set eyes on Bill Shimon

The Location: DMT gym

At the end of this post: The Rolfe RAM 1967 yearbook

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In an earlier post I wrote about Rolfe girls’basketball and DMT. I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that it was at DMT where, as an 11-year-old in 1967, I first set eyes on Bill. We were married in 1975.

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Bill in 8th grade (Fall 1966)

Me in 6th grade (Fall 1966)

It was awards assembly time at the end of the 1966-67 school year…Bill’s 8th-grade year, my sixth-grade year. The DMT gym had three rows of bleachers (along just one side of the gym?). The junior high student body, actually grades 6 through 8, was sitting on those bleachers.

Our beloved principal, Lyle Foster, was standing in the middle of the gym floor announcing the names of award recipients. It came time for him to announce what I recall as the “good guy” award (because I can’t remember the exact name Mr. Foster gave to it). Lyle described the award and then announced that the recipient of this award “is Bill Shimon.”

I remember Bill’s butch haircut and husky frame as he stepped onto the gym floor to receive the award. To this day, each and every day I think of Bill as still deserving a “good guy” award. Sigh.

1967 Rolfe RAM Yearbook


Click once on any of the following to enlarge. Twice for even more magnification.** A heads-up for anyone unaware is that in the yearbook some of the names are misspelled.

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*”DMT” was the rural Des Moines Township school building ~5 miles northeast of Rolfe, Iowa.

**I have these files saved in larger sizes. If you have a need for any of them, please feel free to let me know. mariongundersonart@gmail.com

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in 1960s, Iowa, Rolfe, Yearbook | 5 Comments »